Sofie Björkgren-Näse

Fia Lotta Jansson Design

Calligrapher

©Aja Lund

Artistic lettering

Sofie creates letterforms by hand
Her primary tools are pencils and paper
She loves to turn common letters into unique art

Sofie Björkgren-Näse doesn’t need much to be happy. Give her a pencil and a sheet of paper and she will have all the mediums for self-expression. A former educator with a parallel career as a singer and songwriter, Sofie turned into a professional lettering artist in 2012, when she established her studio, Fia Lotta Jansson Design, and began drawing by hand unique and custom-made lettering products, from logotypes for companies to tattoo designs, wedding stationary, prints and more. Back then, there were not many full-time illustrators of this sort: other people were doing it more as a hobby than a proper job, and somebody warned her that lettering was only a passing trend. But Sofie has always believed the opposite. "It’s such an old thing," she says, "just think of the ancients, who used sticks to draw signs in the sand before they even had pencils!"

Interview

©Aja Lund

©Aja Lund

Did you study specifically to become a lettering artist?: I am completely self-taught: I neither studied graphic design nor took illustration classes, but ever since I can remember, I have always enjoyed doodling. When I was singing with the band, it was me who drew all the album covers and inside texts.
Why are letters so appealing to you?: I love them because they are so common – you’re taught them as a child and they stay the same all your life – but you can always turn them into something different and unique, making art out of them. This is what creativity means to me: finding new, original solutions.
Which tools and techniques do you use?: Everything starts with a sketch on paper: I draw by hand, then scan and transfer the result to the computer to edit it, as most works need to be enlarged or made smaller. Sometimes I use brush pens, liquid inks and acrylic pens, but my primary and favourite tool is the pencil.
How do you define your style?: I don’t combine much illustration in my works: my focus is more in the letter forms than in the decoration. And I prefer black and white or very simple colours. My inspiration comes from nature, buildings, typography or directly from my clients.

Sofie Björkgren-Näse is a master artisan: she began her career in 2012 and she started teaching in 2014